Telephone attachment.



J. C. OLSEN.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. [4, 1915.

1,203,251. I Patented Oct. 31,1916.

fizvarzn kforz 0567 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFrcE.

JOHN C. OLSEll', OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO I. MQABTEUB, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.. I

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct, 31, 1916.

Application filed December 14, 1915. Serial No. 66,710.

To all whom it may concern "Be it known that I, JOHN C. OLSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Telephone Attachments, of

to are installed, it is the practice on the part of the telephone company to send authorized persons at regular periods, as monthly, to collect the deposits from the boxes; and it is desirable for the house-holder, even if only to have a check on the collector, to keep count of the number of coins deposited during each such period. This my attachment enables him to do conveniently; and it does not interfere in any way with or impair the I operation of the telephone, -nor require that the appearance of the latter be marred by mutilating it to apply the attachment.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my counterattachment on a telephone box; Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken view of the same in side elevation, partly sectional, with a side of the counter-casing removed and showing a coin, by dotted representation, in the position of being introduced; Fig. 3 is a section on. line 3, Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a section on line 4, Fig. 2; Fig. 5 shows the attachment by a top plan view, and Fig. 6 is a view of a broken portion of the face of the counter preferably employed, showing an arrangement of numbers thereon suitable for my purpose.

The telephone represented at 7 is of the ordinary construction of a pay-telephone provided with a projecting coin-receiving chute 8 on a corner-portion of the face of the box. I

My attachment comprises a rotary counter in the preferred form illustrated of a wheel 9 provided about its periphery with a suc-.

cession of uniformly spaced numbers, in progressions of five, up to 150. The wheel is j o'urnaled in the sides of a casing 10 adapted to seat on the top of the telephone-box and provided with an opening at 11 for displaying the number registering with it on the wheel. Extending at an angle from the forward corner of the casing is a neck forming a com-insertion slot 12 provided on 1ts lower edges with shoulders 13 to seat on the upper edges of the mouth of the coin-receivlng chute 8; and from these shoulders depend spring legs 14 conforming in shape to that of the chute, to embrace the latter resiliently for holding the attachment removably inplace. The back edges of the slot 12 and legs 14 are straight to fit against the plate 8 carrying the chute and throu h the medium of which it-is fastened to t e face of the telephone-box. On the shaft of the wheel 9 is loosely hung a pawl 15 pressed by a spring 16 normally against a stop 17 at a tail-piece or extension 15 projecting into the path through the slot 12. The pawl engages ratchet-teeth 18 spaced uniformly about the adjacent side of the wheel correspondingly with the spacing of the numbers about its periphery; and a spring detent is provided at 19.

The device, in place on a telephone as shown and described, affords an ornamental attachment and is readily applied to its position by seating the casing on the top of the box and at the same time clamping the chute between the legs 14 while seating the shoulders 13 upon the mouth of the chute 8 to register the slot 12 therewith. Each time a coin or token 20 is inserted and pressed into the slot 12, it engages the pawl-extension 15 to clear it for performing the usual coin-function in the telephone in actuating the pawl against a ratchet-tooth to turn the wheel the extent of one tooth, thereby bringing into display at the opening 11 a number on the wheel denoting the aggregate amount of the successive deposits. The maximum number, as 150, should register with the display-opening 11 when there are no coins on deposit, thus before the attachment has been used and each time the wheel has been caused to make a complete revolution by the insertion of 30 nickels or tokens in succession, so that the first original or new insertion will produce the display of the number 5 on the wheel, the second the number 10, and so on until the number 150 is brought into view.

In telephones of the present kind, if the insertion of a coin fails to produce the desired connection, the coin is automatically returned, in a well-known manner, but its insertion through the'slot 12 has worked the counter, which thus erroneousl shows one more coin to have been deposited than is contained in the telephonecoin-receptacle.

To correct this error, the user should remove the attachment by merely slipping it off the box, so that the next time of using the'telehone the coin may be inserted immediately into the chute 8, thus without actuating the counter, the dis 1ay-number on which will then correctly s ow the amount of the deposits. In the meantime, the attachment may be laid on the box, or elsewhere in some conveniently accessible place from which to re-apply it to its operative position.

As will be seen, since my attachment is self-supporting in its position of use, and

should be conveniently and quickly remov-- able, it avoids the need of means, such .as screws, bolts or the like, for fastening it in place, which would mar or mutilate the telephone-box and therefore be objectionable, particularly to the company owning the telephone.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of construction thus specifically shown and described, and I do not intend by illustrating a single, specific or preferred embodiment of my invention to be limited thereto; my intention being in the following claim to claim protection upon all the novelty there may be in my invention as broadly as the state of the art will ermit. i

W at I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A coin-deposit counting attachment for a pay-telephone provided with a projecting coin-receiving chute, comprising an incased counter seating r'em'ovabl on the top of the telephone-box and provi ed with a'depending neck offset from the counter-casing to extendat the face of the box and forming acoin insertion slot to register with the chutemouth in so seaflng the attachment, and coin-operated means for the counter, said casing and neck forming an angle fitting the corner-portion of said box.

JOHN C. OLSEN. 

